


above the clouds of pompeii

by melwritesthings



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Character Death, Here there be angst, I really do not have a solid plan for this, It just happened and here we are, and mourning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-16 00:07:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14800521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melwritesthings/pseuds/melwritesthings
Summary: "Archie keeps vigil over her at night, not unlike after his dad was shot all those years ago. Sometimes Fred sits up with him, and they reminisce about her red hair and snorting laugh.He asks Archie for updates on his friends; on Veronica in Paris and Betty in Washington. On Kevin out in LA and Reggie in New York. Fred doesn’t ask about Jughead.Mary Andrews dies on a Saturday morning as the sun rises."





	above the clouds of pompeii

**Author's Note:**

> hello there. this is a very different kind of fic for me, but I was struck by this and here we are! if you are one of my bughead readers, please be warned that this is NOT a betty/jughead fic. however, I'm on a real writing kick right now so you should see an update on my bughead story soon. whatever brings you here, I do hope you like this. I am excited about it! 
> 
> title comes from "above the clouds of pompeii" by bear's den, a song that has heavily influenced this story.

He’s at the grocery store picking up a container of her favorite peach yogurt. It has to be peach. It’s all she’ll eat anymore in these last days.

 

Archie stands in the dairy aisle, scanning the flavors. _Strawberry, blueberry, vanilla_ … _no, no, no_... The fluorescent light above him flickers and he rubs his tired eyes. The last container of peach yogurt sits on the bottom shelf.

 

He shudders despite himself as he reaches down for it, though it has little to do with the cool air that skirts across his skin. The last container. Archie wonders if the store will order more if he asks.

 

He’ll have to come back in a few days. If she makes it that long.

 

He blinks down at the container in his otherwise empty shopping basket. Fred hadn’t given him a shopping list, but Archie figures he should grab some basics anyways.

 

He’s staring at the selection of frozen pizzas, remembering the fight he’d had with Jughead in this same aisle ten years ago. Archie had suggested Hawaiian; Jughead was scandalized.

 

“It just doesn’t belong, Archie,” he seethed, “and I won’t stand for it!”

 

“God, live a little, Jug,” Archie teased. “Don’t act like you haven’t eaten weirder things!”

 

In the end, they bought two pizzas. Jughead ate most of them both.

 

Presently, Archie shakes the memory half out of his head and grabs a random assortment of meals. The Andrews men aren’t particularly picky lately.

 

Jughead’s presence lingers in the back of his mind as he throws a couple bags of frozen vegetables in his basket. Archie half expects to hear him scoff at the futility of trying to eat healthy at a time like this.

 

“It’s a nice gesture, Arch,” he would say, “but you and I both know that those green beans are just going to end up with freezer burn. Or you’ll just put them on a black eye next time Reggie punches you in the face.”

 

Archie rolls his eyes. The voice of teenage Jughead is so clear in his mind that he turns his head to bark out a reply.

 

“Oh yeah, well—”

 

 His voice, raspy from days of little use, dies in his throat.

 

There’s no one there. The heavy, lingering presence of his friend disappears as Archie grips the handle of his shopping basket. He blinks heavily and admonishes himself; he needs to get the yogurt back home.

 

After paying for his groceries Archie loads them into his dad’s truck. Clambering into the driver's seat, he takes a moment before turning the key. A motorcycle sitting in front of the store catches his eye. Archie wants to find it achingly familiar.

 

Back home, he spoons some of the peach yogurt into a small bowl.

 

He moves through the kitchen, patting his dad’s shoulder as he passes. Fred catches his hand and squeezes lightly.

 

She’s facing away from him when he reaches the living room. Archie stands in the doorway for a moment, watching the rise and fall of her breaths.

 

The idea of hospice had scared him at first. It felt like giving up. But she was immensely more comfortable here, and Fred seemed almost at ease for the first time in months.

 

“She’s happier here at home, Arch,” he’d said at breakfast just that morning. “This is where you grew up.”

 

She turns her face to him as he crosses the room, a sleepy, morphine-heavy smile drifting across her face. Archie holds up the bowl and gives a small smile of his own.

 

“Think you could have some of this?”

 

Her eyes drift closed, but she nods slightly.

 

Archie perches on the edge of her bed. It’s wrong, he thinks, feeding her like this. But when she hums her appreciation and sends beams of pure love from her eyes, Archie thinks he’d do this forever. Just to keep her here.

 

Archie keeps vigil over her at night, not unlike after his dad was shot all those years ago. Sometimes Fred sits up with him, and they reminisce about her red hair and snorting laugh.

 

He asks Archie for updates on his friends; on Veronica in Paris and Betty in Washington. On Kevin out in LA and Reggie in New York. Fred doesn’t ask about Jughead.

 

Mary Andrews dies on a Saturday morning as the sun rises.

 

Archie is ready for it.

 

Except that he’s not.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this was okay. first chapter was very short, just to get things rolling. 
> 
> the peach yogurt thing actually comes from my grandmother, who ate it exclusively as she was dying of breast cancer. let me know your thoughts! you can find me on tumblr at chic-cooprs if you wanna.


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